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Topic: Possible throat cancer? :( (Read 442 times)

I've had a hoarse, rough sounding voice for 6 weeks now. If I don't talk in a quite voice it hurts in the center of my neck, bad enough to make me not want to talk. It started with a sore throat that felt like a lump in my throat on the left side when I swallowed but this went away after a week. I've had a sore throat on and off during these 6 weeks, mostly off but the hoarseness has stayed exactly the same. My left lypmh node under my jaw has been swollen ever since too, that's there area where the pain started in the first place. Something else reay concerning is for 2 weeks a part in my right thyroid has felt hard. This wasn't there at the beginning because I've felt my neck everywhere multiple times. I doesn't feel that much like a lump, it feels flat and moves a bit if I touch it around the edges, it's about the size of a quarter. I'm getting a videoscope next week to see what's going on with my voice box but I'm really scared because I am a rapper/singer and I've lost money since I can't perform.

Does this sound like throat cancer? And if it is, I heard the prognosis is really good if caught early. Is 6 weeks after symptoms started considered early?

I'm 20 years old and don't smoke tabacco. But experimented with marijuana and synthetic marijuana when j was 18, but not since.

I heard something along the lines of "cancer isn't on and off, it's on and worse". So the fact that your symptoms seem to come and go is promising. Also, if your doctor was incredibly worried about your symptoms they would have sent you in very quickly. Don't forget, these folks are professionals and have seen many problems in far more detail before.

As far as the lymph nodes and thyroid, I think both of these are pretty sensitive and can become inflamed from being messed around with too much. My biggest recommendation is to try to avoid fiddling with them and at the most try something like a warm/cold compress to see if that helps relieve any discomfort.

Additionally, I know one thing some singers can suffer from are vocal nodules, but I think that's more frequently seen in women. Being a singer you put a lot of strain on your voice, I know mine gets sore for a day or two after a long car ride full of singing. I'd imagine there's a higher likelihood of it being connected to that than cancer, especially with your age and lack of tobacco use.

You're doing the right thing by getting things checked out, but worrying can only exacerbate the problem. Good luck and keep us posted

Thank you for your replies. I've been so proactive because I use my voice very day for my music, and the fact that it sounds terrible now is truly devastating. I know the chances of it being cancer is extremely low. But my biggest fear is there is permanent damage to my vocal cords and my hoarseness will be permanent which would end my chances of my career setting off (or make it way harder). I find it extremely weird that my voice has been like this for 6 weeks with no signs of improvement. You know when you talk and it sounds like you have to clear your throat? That's what I sound like all the time. It's terrible and making me really depressed.

And Eric I'm sorry to hear about what's going on with you. I feel your pain.

Since you are a vocalist there is good possibility this could be vocal cord strain. This can happen to people who over use their vocal cords. I'm not sure if pain would be involved however I think throat cancer is highly unlikely with your age. I think the fact you use your vocal cords a lot and your young age you have something totally treatable.

Lindsey I hope that's the case. The pain didn't start when the hoarseness first started. Probably about 2 weeks after it began is when the pain began. And it's still here. When I talk it just plain hurts and makes me not want to talk at all. So you can see how much it is effecting my life. I've been inside my house for about 4 weeks straight. The thing is, the pain started after I took a hit of marijuana which I have been regretting ever since. I feel like that one hit could of made thugs 1000 times worse and hemorrhaged my cords or something. So much regret.